Mind your language
Shakespeare’s pronunciation
Sir John Harington told a story in 1596 about a lady at court asking her gentlewoman to inquire which Mr…
A puzzle for President Obama: is it really that British to queue?
The language that President Barack Obama used was evidence of skulduggery, Nigel Farage declared. ‘The UK is gonna be in…
Queue
The language that President Barack Obama used was evidence of skulduggery, Nigel Farage declared. ‘The UK is gonna be in…
Sorry, but saying ‘sex worker’ won’t lift the stigma
‘Of course,’ said my husband in his worst smirky way, as though waiting for an appreciative chuckle, ‘as soon as…
Sex worker
‘Of course,’ said my husband in his worst smirky way, as though waiting for an appreciative chuckle, ‘as soon as…
The Archbishop of Canterbury and the shifting meaning of ‘illegitimate’
‘The Archbishop of Canterbury has discovered he is the illegitimate son of Sir Winston Churchill’s last private secretary,’ Charles Moore…
Illegitimate
‘The Archbishop of Canterbury has discovered he is the illegitimate son of Sir Winston Churchill’s last private secretary,’ Charles Moore…
The tangled story of dreadlocks, from Milton to YouTube
‘Why are you filming this?’ ‘For everyone’s safety.’ Those are the last words in a 46-second video that was watched…
Dreadlocks
‘Why are you filming this?’ ‘For everyone’s safety.’ Those are the last words in a 46-second video that was watched…
Mind your language: From body fluids to ‘gender fluid’
Benjamin Franklin thought that an excess of electric fluid gave rise to positive electricity, and a deficiency of the fluid…
Gender fluid
Benjamin Franklin thought that an excess of electric fluid gave rise to positive electricity, and a deficiency of the fluid…
Is it a bird? Is it a sofa? The secret history of ‘butterbump’
‘Still I’m called Buttercup —poor little Buttercup,’ sang my husband in an inappropriate and displeasing baritone. Not wishing to encourage…
Butterbump
‘Still I’m called Buttercup —poor little Buttercup,’ sang my husband in an inappropriate and displeasing baritone. Not wishing to encourage…
Why won’t the media call a cock a cock?
On the Radio 4 news at 11 o’clock last Saturday morning there was a joky report about roosters in Brisbane. The…
Cock
On the Radio 4 news at 11 o’clock last Saturday morning there was a joky report about roosters in Brisbane. The…
Save the innocent swastika!
There is a nice row of swastikas at head height in Burlington Gardens, behind the Royal Academy. They are carved…
Swastika
There is a nice row of swastikas at head height in Burlington Gardens, behind the Royal Academy. They are carved…
The murky origins of David Cameron’s new favourite phrase
‘They all laughed at Christopher Columbus,’ sang my husband flatly, ‘when he said the world was round.’ I wasn’t going…
Leap in the dark
‘They all laughed at Christopher Columbus,’ sang my husband flatly, ‘when he said the world was round.’ I wasn’t going…
Britain to have ‘special status’ in the EU? Careful what you wish for…
‘Special status?’ said my husband. ‘You mean like executioners, butchers and undertakers in Japan?’ I hadn’t suggested that, but had…
Special status
‘Special status?’ said my husband. ‘You mean like executioners, butchers and undertakers in Japan?’ I hadn’t suggested that, but had…
Does creaky voice make you a female yuppie – or an updated Vicki Pollard?
My husband, not surprisingly, finds it extremely annoying. It, in this instance, is the use by women of creaky voice.…
Creaky voice
My husband, not surprisingly, finds it extremely annoying. It, in this instance, is the use by women of creaky voice.…
Beware of misusing ‘be aware’
My husband pointed with his stick, which he carries not to steady himself but to cudgel pedestrians out of his…
Beware
My husband pointed with his stick, which he carries not to steady himself but to cudgel pedestrians out of his…
